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A process prescribed or assigned for testing qualification; as, the examination of a student, or of a candidate for admission to the bar or the ministry. He neglected the studies, . . . stood low at the examinations. Macaulay. Examination in chief, or Direct examination (Law), that examination which is made of a witnes…

r questioning of a witness by the party against whom he has been called and examined. See Examination.

Previous examination.

A repeated examination. See under Examination.

An examination into one's own state, conduct, and motives, particularly in regard to religious feelings and duties.

Examination of the abdomen to detect abdominal disease.

Examination or consideration of a subject in controversy, or of a plan proposed for adoption; earnest discussion; debate. A logical agitation of the matter. L'Estrange. The project now in agitation. Swift.

n object of the senses or of the intellect, into its constituent or original elements; an examination of the component parts of a subject, each separately, as the words which compose a sentence, the tones of a tune, or the simple propositions which enter into an argument. It is opposed to synthesis.…

complex) into its elements; to separate into the constituent parts, for the purpose of an examination of each separately; to examine in such a manner as to ascertain the elements or nature of the thing examined; as, to analyze a fossil substance; to analyze a sentence or a word; to analyze an action to ascertain its mo…

Before death; -- generally used adjectivelly; as, an ante- mortem statement; ante-mortem examination.

we. So as, so that. [Obs.] The relations are so uncertain as they require a great deal of examination. Bacon.

To find out or learn for a certainty, by trial, examination, or experiment; to get to know; as, to ascertain the weight of a commodity, or the purity of a metal. He was there only for the purpose of ascertaining whether a descent on England was practicable. Macaulay.

Examination and determination; test; as, an assay of bread or wine. [Obs.] This can not be, by no assay of reason. Shak.

An examination in general; a judicial examination.

Examination of the ear by the aid of the auriscope.

An examination by listening either directly with the ear (immediate auscultation) applied to parts of the body, as the abdomen; or with the stethoscope (mediate ~), in order to distinguish sounds recognized as a sign of health or of disease.

Personal observation or examination; seeing with one's own eyes; ocular view. By autopsy and experiment. Cudworth.

Relating to bacterioscopy; as, a bacterioscopic examination.

One skilled in bacterioscopic examinations.

application of a knowledge of bacteria for their detection and identification, as in the examination of polluted water.